Christian Eriksen is no longer a Tottenham Hotspur player and hasn’t been for a long time, but he’s still a beloved figure among Spurs fans. So you can understand how news of Eriksen’s collapse during Denmark’s friendly match against Ukraine would’ve greatly affected Spurs fans along with anyone else who happened to be watching. Eriksen reportedly clutched his chest, waved at the sidelines, and collapsed to the turf before being treated by Denmark’s physios. He eventually walked under his own power
to an ambulance, after which he was taken to a hospital for treatment. The friendly match was abandoned.
And of course, everyone remembers the absolute terror we all felt when Eriksen collapsed in the middle of a EURO 2020 match; his heart reportedly stopped for five minutes before he was resuscitated. Eriksen was then fitted with a pacemaker and he missed about a year of football before making a dramatic recovery to the game he loves.
The good news is, according to the BBC, he’s doing well in his recovery. His pacemaker fired as designed and is what reportedly saved his life, and he is now resting and recovering at home. Eriksen released a statement about the incident, but said it was not the same thing as what happened to him in 2021.
“I want to let everyone know that I am doing well and that I am home with my family.
As you can probably imagine, receiving a shock from my ICD has had a major effect on both me and my family, but I want to assure everyone that this was a different situation from what happened in 2021.
“I am feeling good and my recovery has already started.
“In addition to being grateful for the support and assistance of all the players and the medical team on the field, I am also incredibly grateful to the doctors who have cared for me and my heart over the years.
“Thanks to their expertise, my ICD did exactly what it was designed to do: protect me when I needed it.
“For now, my focus is on recovering, spending time with my family, going on vacation, and playing football with my children.”
It goes without saying that I am hugely relieved that Eriksen survived the incident, that his pacemaker operated as intended, and that he is expected to make a full recovery. And yet, while I acknowledge that returning to play professional football after nearly dying during a match is both heroic and brave, after two on-pitch cardiac incidents in five years I have to wonder if this is the last time we see Eriksen playing football professionally. My partner worked as a cardiac nurse for two decades and upon hearing about what happened to Christian, she made it clear that under no circumstances should he play high-level football again. To not be encouraged to retire, she suggested, would be malpractice.
Eriksen’s future is obviously down to him and his doctors, but I too would encourage him to hang up his boots. Denmark didn’t qualify for the World Cup this summer so he doesn’t have to worry about that competition, but even so he has a year left to go on his Wolfsburg contract. Eriksen is 33 years old and has a long life ahead of him. I hope he doesn’t let professional football get in the way of living that life.
I wish him and his family nothing but the best.
